maybe that means you have to do it
by Rizza Harley
Summary: Shibuya held all sorts of things from a variety of people, trends, stores, and attractions. Was it any wonder that the city also had its fair share of secrets? [cross-posted on AO3]
1. week 1, day 1

There were a bunch of things Shiki Misaki questioned in her meager 16 years of life. Decisions she second thought, dreams that could have gone way better than she'd planned (which very neatly ended in a dumpster fire, but okay) and words that she could have maybe sorta said a little nicer (_Eri, I'm so sorry, I love you-_)

One such decision was picking a partner for the Reaper's Game.

It's not like Shiki had much of a choice, the Noise were getting closer, she was running out of time to complete the mission, and there wasn't much she could do with nearly _every_ player getting erased, like, 3 minutes into the game.

But did her partner have to be such an...oddball?

For one thing, when she tried to hand over the pin she'd found, he shrugged her off (a little rudely, but she was letting it slide because the guy was strangely distracted) and opened his phone.

Before she could ask _what the hell_ was he doing checking his freaking phone in the _middle of an incoming battle,_ she saw him press a few buttons rapidly on his phone before 6 pins appeared out of nowhere and attached themselves on to his shirt like it was the most natural thing that could have happened.

To say Shiki was confused was the least of his problems, apparently, because as soon as she was going to ask _what the hell_ _did you do?_ He flipped his Player Pin mid-air and suddenly Shiki found herself all alone surrounded by frog-shaped Noise.

"Hey! Where did you go?" She shouted, dashing away from a frog that looked like it was going to drop-kick her in the face. Shiki had no idea if frogs could actually drop kick anyone, but she wasn't going to take any chances.

**Calm down. I'm still here.**

Shiki nearly stumbled when a voice that sounded suspiciously like her partner's materialized (how did that even work?) in her head.

"Wh-what? But -!"

**No time to chit-chat. Take care of the Noise on your end.**

"I'm not so sure-"

**Trust me.**

Something within Shiki clicked, and before she could question what she was doing, she threw her hands out. Following her action, Mr Mew leaped into the fray and decked the Noise jumping towards her, and proceeded to kick ass. Nice.

In the following minutes, Shiki realized that with her every movement, Mr Mew followed without hesitation. Some kind of telekinesis, or puppetry. Whatever it was, she found she had very little trouble getting into the swing of things. Shiki could also hear her partner battling it out with what sounded like his own army of Noise.

"Are you okay?"

**Just fuckin' peachy. Hey, watch _out-!_**

_"Agh!"_ she cried out as one of the frogs nailed her in the gut, sending her skidding back into the pavement. Mr Mew scampered back to her side, acting as a stand-by shield while she got herself together.

In short order, Shiki concluded that whatever this Game was, it made them fight on different...areas, probably, with a connection that acted like some sort of communication link. It also let them..become aware of each other, in a sense? Because she could definitely see glimpses of Neku's scuffle in the back of her mind, even if they weren't on the same battlefield. Convenient, if a little jarring.

"Behind you!" she shouted, throwing her hands forward making Mr Mew slash at a frog. In her head-space, she felt a prickly presence, like static, a little ways behind her, which prompted her little burst in their weird connection thing.

**Got it.**

Before long, she'd eliminated her side of the Noise and found herself _phasing _out of the area she'd just been in and back to the real Hachiko, complete with bystanders walking by as if nothing had actually happened. The only difference being the tension in the air. Shiki found that whatever they did, it lessened the heavy atmosphere that was surrounding Hachiko before.

She filed the train of thought for later, when it mattered. For now, she had a mission and a game to complete.

Shiki looked around for her partner and found him near the statue.

"Hey!" she waved at him, feeling the high of adrenaline still coursing through her body. (That was kind of metaphorical, considering she was, y'know, _dead,_ but the sentiment still counted, right?) "That was awesome!"

She received no response, which made her falter a little. Did he not hear her? Was it because of those big bulky headphones he was wearing? (What was even up with those, anyway? They were much too big for casual wear, the kind she'd usually see at home used for gaming.)

Walking closer, she found her partner inspecting the Hachiko statue.

"Hello?" She leaned forward, hands behind her back. He still didn't acknowledge her, pacing around the statue, distracted.

Getting impatient, Shiki crossed her arms and side-eyed him. "HEY! Can you hear me?"

She saw his shoulders jolt, meaning he really hadn't heard her. He turned back to look at Shiki.

"What?" he asked, looking slightly annoyed. Jokes on him, because Shiki was definitely annoyed between the both of them.

"What are you doing?" she snapped, indignant. "We need to get to 104! I don't want to get erased!" No, seriously, _what_ was he doing? If they weren't invisible to every living being right now, Shiki would bet that he would have been stared at weirdly by, like, ALL of the people near the statue.

He rolled his eyes in response. "This won't take more than a second," he replied. "Actually-" his eyes gleamed in triumph as he reached out towards the dog's legs and pulled out...

"A box?" Shiki said incredulously. Her partner smirked at her.

"Yep. Let's get to 104. That's where we need to go, right?"

Shiki shook her head. "I mean, yes, that's where we need to be, but why is a box -"

He cut her off. "That doesn't matter, it's just these weird Nose Glasses anyway. C'mon, time's running out."

Shiki did not understand the context of what he just said, but his comment about the timer spurred her into moving, dashing for the Scramble Crossing that lead to 104.

They made it (thankfully) in the nick of time. That hiccup with the wall and the weird red-hooded guy was strange, but all that mattered to Shiki was that they managed to clear the first day of the Game. It was only going to get worse from here.

She looked at her partner again, oddly calm considering the circumstances. She blinked. And squinted her eyes, like she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Her partner did not have the box he found in Hachiko anymore.

Where did it go?

Shiki decided, then and there, that out of like, a bunch of other players, she ended up picking the weird one.


	2. week 1, day 2

The Proxy was acting outside the realm of probability. For the life of him, Sanae could not _figure out_ just what made his Composer's chosen one **tick.**

For one thing, when one of the Reapers (Uzuki Yashiro, he would be writing up on behavioral disciplinary measures for that one) tried to trick the Proxy into _killing his own partner,_ Sanae had honestly thought that due to his limited world view, Neku Sakuraba would fall for the trap and get himself erased from the get go (that is, if Sanae wouldn't intervene.)

That...didn't actually _happen._

Sanae Hanekoma could not explain- for all his experience as a Producer, as an agent of artistry- why the Proxy simply gave Yashiro a completely comical blank look, activated his pin, and sent the Reaper flying back.

That shouldn't have been possible. Pins were supposed to be usable only in battle. **Why could the Proxy use it here?**

There were only a few probable explanations Sanae could offer himself.

_One,_ the Proxy that the Composer chose for this Game was a lot more powerful than they expected - almost an anomaly at this point.

Not only was this explanation **ridiculous**, it spelled out t-r-o-u-b-l-e if he were to let this Player run wild. He would need to isolate and quarantine this Soul immediately, if it were the case.

But...no. It didn't exactly seem right. While the Proxy displayed a capability of Pin usage beyond any average Player, it was just that. A beyond average, unusual but not uncommon, ability to competently use Pins without fumbling and without pause. Seemed to have a swell time using it, really.

The other explanation Sanae thought of was _equally_ as ludicrous, but much more viable - if a little ironic, at this point.

Pins could only be used in battle. That was an irreversible fact of the Underground, Aboveground, and everything in between.

That meant that the Proxy had seen the Reaper's declaration as a **challenge**, quickly segueing into a battle unbeknownst to the instigator. It was beatifically executed. The Proxy was lightning quick on his feet, activating a Pin in record time and shoving Yashiro back with an unseen force, sending her sprawling onto the ground sputtering, and spitting mad.

Perhaps Sanae should intervene, despite the changes he hadn't foreseen happening.

"_What do you think you're doing?_" Sanae painted a lax grin on his lips, eyes glinting in warning. Though the Reapers didn't technically know who exactly their Composer or Producer were, Sanae, as an Angel himself, could imprint on the Reapers without breaking a sweat. It was allowed under _certain circumstances_, like now.

That's why Yashiro Uzuki felt like she had to comply with Sanae. It was only a bit of persuasion, really, backed with a subconsciously implied threat. That would do the trick.

"That's _enuffa_ that, sis. You could get erased, with this stunt you're pulling," Sanae inserted himself between the two opposing forces, never taking his eyes off of them both.

In his periphery, he noted that the Proxy was...for some reason, standing protectively in front of his partner, the one with a stuffed toy she could use in battle. It wasn't immediately obvious.

But, for someone as long-lived as he was, you tend to see the significant details more often than not, because you knew what to look for.

The Proxy's hand was also faintly glowing, another Pin ready to activate at the twitch of a finger. If Sanae strained his ears, he could hear the faint _buzz_ of noise the pins themselves were emitting.

To have that much control and mastery over the Pins was disconcerting, but Sanae resolved to think about it later.

The Reaper looked as if she was about to burst a vein. She didn't seem to have her own lazy laid-back partner around.

She clicked her tongue irritably. "I almost _had him,_" she seethed, glaring at the Proxy with malicious fury.

Sanae watched curiously as the Player blinked in bemusement, tilting his head. "You did, huh?"

Uzuki's nostril's flared. "You little **brat.** I could get you erased because of what you did," she hissed. The Proxy's face showed mild surprise, then he turned to Sanae. "Is that allowed?"

Sanae grimaced. "Yes, unfortunately." He held up a hand when the Reaper had a triumphant grin on her face. "_However._ That almost **never** happens, because Pins can never be activated outside of battle. To have him attack you...you'd have to have instigated it in the first place."

This was a stretch, but as long as others were willing to buy it for now, he would play it to his benefit as soon as possible.

The Proxy's partner jumped in. "_You gave us a bunch of Noise even after we completed the mission!_" she accused. She faltered a little when the Reaper threw a sharp sneer at her face.

Sanae nodded. "Yep. Far as I know, Players who complete the mission are off limits. **So scram.**"

Uzuki clicked her tongue, spinning on her heel angrily and walking away. She stopped a few feet off, turning her head back at them.

"You...know **too much** about the rules of the Game, for a Player."

Sanae didn't bother to correct her.

He turned to face the two Players. "Hey there," he smiled charmingly, wanting to set the two at ease. People tended to talk more once you were friendly enough. "Lucky you didn't fall for that."

The Proxy's partner fidgeted nervously, but relief shone plainly on her features. "I'll say," she replied, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. She tightened her grip around her stuffed animal. "I _honestly_ thought you were going to end me then and there, Neku!" her voice rose higher, a bit panicked at the end. "I'm glad you didn't, by the way."

Neku shrugged. "Not worth the risk," he said, averting his eyes to the side.

**Now that was interesting.**

Sanae caught the odd tone of voice, as muffled as it was by the over-sized collar of the Player's shirt.

Something about those words was a lie, but if you looked at it from a certain standpoint, it was the truth. Which made him all the more cautious, and wary.

"The little lady's right, Phones," Sanae agreed, quirking his lips upward. "Had you pulled through with that, there would have been severe consequences."

The Proxy rose a brow. "Isn't that what you winged assholes wanted?" He crossed his arms.

His partner made a confused noise. "Um...Neku, this guy doesn't have wings."

Sanae was an Angel, and he could make his wings invisible if he wanted. Actually, he'd hid his wings since the start of the game, and hadn't let up since.

Neku blinked. "Oh...**right.**"

How exactly did the Proxy know that Sanae was _supposed to have wings?_

He could already hear his Composer telling him '_Oh dear, Sanae, you're overthinking things again. Take a step back and relax, would you? Can't have you getting a heart attack all of a sudden,_' which was Joshua's way of saying that Sanae was being a paranoid bastard. **Again.**

Still, Sanae filed that comment for later.

"Hey, who are you, mister?" the girl asked, tilting her head curiously.

Sanae grinned. "Hanekoma. Sanae Hanekoma. Think of me as a sort of...guardian. I watch the Games, to make sure no one stirs up any trouble."

Neku Sakuraba stared at him with an undecipherable look in his eyes. "So you're not a Reaper?" He asked. His partner blinked.

('_See? False alarm._')

"That other Reaper called him a Player, though."

Neku huffed. "He doesn't have a partner. Why would he be a Player?"

"You never know!"

Sanae raised his hands up in a placating gesture. "Hey now, it's all well and dandy," he chuckled, resting a hand behind his neck. "Its nice to see a Pair having each other's backs even in the face of great temptation, this early into the Game."

The pink haired player made a distressed sound. "Do Players not get along often?"

Sanae shrugged. "Most don't. They think they can do everything themselves, which misses the entire point of the game. They **can't** accomplish everything alone. Having that mindset will just push them into some hard lessons to learn."

"That's horrible..." The young lady seemed to curl into herself. She looked conflicted, but Sanae did not nearly know her enough to pinpoint what exactly it was about.

So Sanae watched, internally surprised, as the Proxy - who the Composer described as a lone wolf and a societal outcast - place a comforting hand on his Partner's shoulder.

"Hey. We're not like that. **I'm** not like that," he insisted softly. "I'm...just not used to being with others, okay? Sorry if I acted like an asshole."

That was very surprising, and a very interesting development. The report did not describe Neku Sakuraba acting like this _at all._

The young lady snapped her head up, shocked. "_What?_ Neku, no! I get it, we only just met. It would be unfair to you if I expected us to be buddies right away. I'm just glad you didn't...well. Y'know."

"Yeah." Neku retracted his hand from her shoulder. "I know."

Something flashed in the Proxy's eyes. **Curious.**

"So...partners?" She asked Neku.

A small quirk of the lips was his answer.

"Partners."

Sanae belted out a laugh. "Nice one, you two. **Trusting in your partner** is the number one rule to remember when staying alive in Shibuya. Looks like I was worried for nothing, Phones."

The Proxy looked strangely amused. "Phones?"

Sanae didn't deign the repetition with a response, grinning. Instead, he handed them both a blank pin. "Here. This should be useful to the both of you."

The partners took it and inspected it curiously.

"I'm sure you've noticed, but whenever you battle Noise, you and your partner are separated, right?"

They both nodded. The little lady spoke up. "We could hear each other, though. It was _super weird._"

It was Sanae's turn to blink. "You can already hear each other's thoughts?"

They gave him varying degrees of confused looks. "Were we not supposed to?"

Sanae backpedaled his train of thought a bit. "Oh, no, yeah, _you **can**_, but..." _It doesn't happen this early on, especially with a newly formed pact,_ he didn't add. He shook his head.

"Anyway, even though you're separated, if you can sync up with your partner in the right way, you'd be surprised at what you might accomplish," he winked at them. "That'll only happen if you trust you partner, though, so open up when you can. Communicate."

They nodded, taking his words to heart.

He offered them a little Q&A, answering their questions about the Reaper's Game -

"For a week, you'll be running around completing seven main missions. One each day."

"We get erased if we don't complete the mission?"

"Well, _technically_, yes, but you're not the only set of Players completing the mission. Don't get to relaxed, though. If everyone thinks that someone else is completing the mission, then **who's driving the plane?**"

"You're saying it might as well be better safe than sorry."

"Exactly. Furthermore, Reapers grade the Players according to performance."

"_Huh?_ Why?"

"Probably because there's a chance that more than one set of Players make it to the final day."

"Spot on. So give it your best shot."

\- the Reapers themselves -

"What's with the Reapers?"

"They're the mods for the Game, in layman's terms."

"That Reaper girl from before didn't seem like a proper mod to me."

"Oh, trust me, she _was_ doing her job. Just at the wrong time. Reapers are there to get in your way from time to time, so expect more of that during your next missions."

"_Great._"

"Are all Reapers like that?"

"Nope. Some are Harriers, like the sis from before. The one wearing the red hoodies are typically Support, like setting up Walls and whatnot."

"What do the Harriers do?"

"They hunt Players for a living. Literally. If they don't rack up enough points, its **them** who get erased instead."

\- even about himself -

"Who are you, really?"

"Who, me? _Pfft..._"

"Well?"

"Alright, alright. Again, the name's Sanae Hanekoma. Born the third of March, blood type A. I'm a Pisces, and one hip cafe barista, mista."

"Was that a personal ad?"

"You tell me. Other than that...I gamble a fair bit. My favorite word...'composer'. Nice ring to it."

"_You don't say?_"

"Natto gets my tummy rumbling. As for my physical dimensions-"

"Really? _Right in front of my salad?_"

"Aw, Neku, he was just getting to the good parts!"

"I'm both concerned and terrified by that statement alone."

"You run a cafe, Mr Hanekoma? I thought you said you were a guardian?"

" '_Of sorts_'."

"Not the _point,_ Neku!"

"Heh, well, the cafe's just a pastime. Drop by if you'd like. I'll whip you up something good."

"**Do you accept delivery orders?**"

"No, I...Why are your eyes gleaming like that? Is that your wallet?_...Phones?_"

\- and finally, Shibuya herself.

"Is this really Shibuya?"

"Yes and no. This place is an alternate Shibuya called the UG. **Underground.** It's one gigantic interactive chessboard for the Reaper's Game."

"How is that possible?"

"_Maaaagic._ The Shibuya you came from is called the RG, or **Realground.**"

"Are we in another world, or something?"

"No...everything you see here is the RG - as real as anything."

"You don't sound sure about that."

"It is what it is. Speaking of which, the UG is managed by the Composer, Shibuya's supervisor of sorts."

"Of sorts?"

"I can't really say anything more. There are rules to this kind of thing."

"Like an NDA?"

"You could say that."

Of course, there was one more thing Sanae was expecting the two to ask about. The blank pin.

"Say, Mr Hanekoma, how exactly do we activate this pin's psych?" Shiki asked, holding up her blank pin in the air like it was going to tell her all its secrets.

"This one's a little different. You need a partner to use it, and, like I said, you need to be in sync with your partner in battle, you hear?"

Neku frowned a little. "What exactly do you mean, 'in sync'?"

"The more in sync the two of you are," Sanae explained. "The more you can Fuse your energy. Once you do that, the stronger the psych this little guy can unleash."

Shiki's eyes glittered in excitement. "_Ohmigosh,_ like a combo move! This'll be really useful! Don't you think so, Neku?"

"Sure, if we get the hang of it."

"Ah, don't sell yourself short Phones -"

"Neku."

"-you're actually much better off. You can use a wider range of psych than the others," Sanae said, ignoring the Proxy's rolling eyes and his partner's giggle.

Shiki blinked, registering what Sanae had said, and frowned. "Actually, now that I think about it...Neku, how many Pins do you have _exactly?_"

Sanae was confused. As of the moment, the Proxy should only have at least six Pins on hand, and could only use three at the moment. Right?

But then he got a closer look at Neku's clothes.

**Six Pins.** Six Pins were attached to the Player's clothes.

_It was only the second day!_

"I...last I counted, a hundred fifty, give or take."

_Bull**shit.**_

"Woah...Neku, that's amazing! Wait...how did you even get so much?" Shiki looked at her partner in amazement. Neku averted his eyes on the spot, avoiding looking at both Shiki and Sanae as if he could tell that the Producer was staring incredulously at him.

"I'd...rather not talk about it."

That answered _absolutely **nothing**_ of the questions Sanae had.

And why the hell did the Proxy sound so dead inside?

_Joshua, are you **sure** you picked the right Soul for this gamble?_


	3. week 1, day 3

Shiki's honestly thankful to have Neku as her partner. Despite her initial concerns about his...unusual behavior and habits, she's honestly come to think of Neku as someone who had her back.

Possibly, maybe, also a friend?

Not that she wants to overstep her boundaries, no way. Neku seemed like the kind of guy who didn't take kindly to getting friends just because they seemed cool. And Shiki was all about consent, okay? Forcing people to like you was not how she wanted to go about things.

No matter how much she wanted to have a large friend group like Eri a certain person, she wouldn't ask people to hang out with her or like her just because. She was better than that.

If Neku only wanted to be partners for the Game, then that was fine with her. Honest.

But did being friends with one Neku Sakuraba mean she had to roll with his strange tendencies?

After they'd partnered up, Shiki remembered that halfway through their second mission Neku had never really introduced himself, distracted with apparently checking every possible corner for...something. (She didn't want to know.)

Meeting with Beat and Rhyme had been an experience too. Somehow, Beat had taken Neku's demeanor as rude and insulting (which, okay, fair enough, but it wasn't like Neku did it on purpose. Shiki could honestly tell that he didn't mind Beat, judging by the way he treated the red-hooded guy from the day before to the loud mouth with his tiny partner, Rhyme) and stalked off.

Rhyme had apologized which both Shiki and Neku waved off, letting the Player run off to search for his (her? their? Shiki couldn't tell) partner.

Soon after, Shiki had realized she'd been rudely calling after Neku with a 'Hey!' or, occasionally, a 'You' which was unacceptable in her books.

So she'd bugged him about his name.

Neku didn't hear her.

At first, Shiki thought he was outright ignoring her. She felt a little mad at the fact, so she was more than irritable when he finally deigned to acknowledge her after screwing around with the Moyai Statue and the guy in front of it.

To her surprise, Shiki found out that Neku honestly hadn't heard her (even though there was no actual sound coming out of his headphones) and was amicable when she managed to ask for his name.

He had an odd look in his eyes though, when she asked.

"Hey."

Shiki jolted out of her thoughts, spinning around rapidly to come face to face with the current subject of her thoughts. She hoped she didn't come across as a weirdo to him.

(...why would she even worry about that? Neku was a weirdo himself...unless he thought it was normal? Oh no, hello anxiety, Shiki did not miss you at all.)

"Y-yeah? What's up?"

"There's no mission yet."

Shiki blinked. "There isn't?" she fished her phone out of Eri's her belt bag. "...huh. You're right." She squinted her eyes at the bright display of her phone, going to her settings and turning the brightness down halfway. "That's better. Why is it so dark here, anyway?"

In the darkness, she could only see Neku's silhouette, outlined by the faint light emitting from the only window from above. Come to think of it, she recognized that design...

"Are we in the Concert Stage?" she gasped.

Neku's shadow form (wow, didn't that sound ominous and creepy) bobbed its head. "Yup."

A stilted silence settled between them. Neku seemed to fidget a little, shifting back and forth on the heels of his feet.

"I've been thinking about those pins Mr Hanekoma gave us," he told her, finally finding his words and settling down, hands in his pockets. She could see the figure of one hand remove itself from Neku's shorts begin tossing a glinting item up and down.

It was another Pin, but Shiki couldn't identify it.

"That blank white one?" Shiki brought out her own, rubbing it between her fingers. "What about it?"

Neku didn't respond for a few moments.

"..."

"Neku?"

A sigh.

"You wanna try it out before we get a mission?"

Shiki blinked. Try it out?

Slowly, a grin spread across her face, not that Neku could see it in the relative darkness. "Great idea, Neku!"

Her partner seemed weirdly subdued, but Shiki paid it no mind, because her mind was whirling with the possibilities using the blank pin could create. How would it work? What kind of move would she and Neku be able to do?

"Alright. Let me just switch out my pins real quick."

Shiki tilted her head. "Huh? Alright. Go ahead."

Neku's face was then illuminated by the light coming from his phone, and Shiki noticed that Neku looked weirdly apprehensive about something. What, she didn't know, but she wanted to find out.

"Neku, is something wrong?"

He blinked, and lifted his head to look at her. "Sorry?"

Shiki clutched Mr Mew close to her chest. She hoped she wasn't getting on his nerves. "I mean...you look really worried about something."

Quick as lightning, Neku schooled his features to something more neutral, with a little quirk to his lips to try and convince Shiki he was fine. "Just worried about my pet cat. Haven't fed her yet."

Shiki was a little surprised. "You have a cat? What's her name?"

Neku smirked. "It's Secret."

Shiki pouted. "Aw, come on Neku, you can tell me!"

Neku shook his head and huffed. "I mean her name is Secret."

Shiki blushed. "Oh. Smart."

"Not really." Neku put away his phone. "Alright. I'm done. You should attach yours, too."

Shiki fumbled. "Oh, right! Sorry, hang on."

Once she finished adding the blank pin on her deck, she turned to Neku. "Alright. What do we do first?"

Neku rolled his eyes at her. "Let's find some Noise to battle first, genius."

Shiki felt like hitting her head on a wall. Duh! Good going, Misaki. Way to make a good impression on your partner! Five star review worthy, really. She laughed with a pinch of nervousness. "Right...right. Where do you wanna start?"

Neku looked over her shoulder, and pointed a finger.

"There. Look's like a good..._warm up._"

Shiki looked behind her, and could vaguely make out the corner of the concert stage. She had absolutely no idea why Neku wanted to be in that spot in particular, but he was better at manipulating the psych pins than she was. Maybe it came with the territory.

(Neku mentally sent a prayer of apology towards the Shiki from his original timeline. If she and the rest of his meagre friend group knew what he was doing now, they'd freak and would most definitely nag at him. Constantly.)

"Alright, let's do this!" Shiki shrugged her shoulders back, stretching, before nodding to Neku.

He tossed his Player Pin one last time, before they entered the battlefield in a burst of static.

No matter how many times we've done this before, Shiki noted, gathering her bearings. I can never get used to entering.

She took a look at her current surroundings. She blinked.

Beams and wires were laid out in a symmetrical, functional pattern around her. One misstep and she would be falling down to...oh.

A very deep, very dark abyss.

Yeah. So not into doing that.

**Shiki, are you doing okay?**

Neku's voice offered her a source of comfort from the disconnect she had with the situation.

_I...kinda? This is...weird._

**Why?**

_I can see a little better,_ Shiki responds through their weird (and useful!) mind-link. **But I'm high up. Really high up.**

**...really** ** now. I'm on the ground.**

Shiki startled.

_Wha-What?! But I- I thought..._

**Hey, its fine. No use trying to work out the logic. Let's just try focusing on the Noise.**

_R-right. Okay._

Shiki focused, Pins buzzing in tandem on Eri's her vest. Mr Mew stood beside her, ready to pounce.

But the first Noise wave wasn't coming from her end.

It came from Neku's.

_Neku! Above you!_

**I'm not hitting anything!**

_To your right!_

**Gotcha! Thanks. Heads up, Noise comin' your way.**

Shiki watched as several Noise appeared in a burst of static, covering the electrical fuse boxes and making the lights flicker on and off.

Hey...Neku, you can't see down there, right?

**Yeah. Got something?**

Shiki nodded, and remembered that her partner didn't necessarily see her through their bond.

_Yup! Hang tight, Neku!_

**I'm counting on you.**

Those words motivated Shiki. Her partner was trusting her to do this. She was his eyes in the dark, but also the light for him to see.

She had to do this.

With a short battle cry, she made Mr Mew claw through the first set of Noise bats over to her left. As she suspected, as some of the bat shaped Noise screeched and flinched away from Mr Mew's swipes, the lights flickered back to life below her, lasting a bit longer than prior.

Shiko nodded to herself. "Alright. I can do this." She slapped her cheeks together, ridding herself of any doubt she had. It would only distract her here.

Turning her attention back to the battle, she narrowly dodged a Noise making a move on her by throwing her body weight sideways. She still got nicked in the shoulder. Motherfuck.

(Shiki wasn't one to curse, but this was practically a life or death situation - or, she supposed, an exist or be erased situation? Either way, this basically warranted her right to curse at least a little.

Besides, she had to do it at some point, why not start now?

Oh god. If her mother were ever to hear her...nope, not thinking about it.)

She kept the Noise's attention on her while simultaneously controlling Mr Mew into bashing the rest of the Noise still stuck on that thrice damned fuse box.

But...there was something she noticed. Throughout the battle, she and Neku had been talking back and forth through the link, to watch each other's backs. However, sometimes, she felt Neku spring forwards, activating his pin psych and laying waste to the Noise he was facing.

And during those times...Shiki would feel a burst of power and prompted Mr Mew to give a harsher kick and claw to the bat Noise. It was weird. She and Neku...they were weirdly in sync.

Wait. In sync?

_"Omigosh, its like a combo move, Neku!"_

_"Sure, if it works."_

Was that what Mr Hanekoma meant? Whatever the case may be, she couldn't afford to let her mind wander, and composed herself, focusing back on the battle.

She cried in triumph as she got rid of the last of the bat Noise in one of the fuse boxes. After a few seconds, the lights flared in a brilliant wash of white, illuminating the room far better than the measly window ever could. Shiki could spot the floor below her, and _woooow, **okay,**_ she didn't want to fall. She was at least 8 feet up in the air! Maybe even more, if her senses were trying to play tricks on her.

She quickly began working on the second fuse box, Mr Mew fluidly bouncing off the vertical beam and launching itself onto the screeching Noise.

Shiki smirked, a feeling of euphoria dancing in her veins. This was it. She was in her element. She could control Mr Mew's movements, could feel it in her bones, because she made the doll. Personally. She could feel the way the threads tug, and she could manipulate them to such an extent that Mr Mew almost moved like a human being.

Minus the fact that Mr Mew was a freaking _cat_, of course.

The feeling of energized power grew in her, and Shiki felt she was just about ready to burst. By this point, she could _feel_ Neku moving in tandem with hers, like some dance that only they, as partners, were privy to. She felt his every breath, every step, and she had no doubt that he could feel hers as well.

**Ready?** Her partner asked, and Shiki rubbed the blank pin on her lapel.

_Ready._

Together, they raised their arms, letting the power rush to their fingertips.

The surrounding area faded from Shiki's senses, the light on her hands drowning out everything else but the enemies they were facing. Mr Mew popped up beside her, ready to pounce at a command.

Neku appeared beside her, hand outstretched and ready. Shik mirrored his actions.

_"Ready to die?"_

_**"Then die."**_

Neku, Shiki, and Mr Mew all unleashed a volley of attacks on the enemies within their reach, all enemies, really, and Shiki felt a rush of metaphorical adrenaline course through her metaphorical veins.

(Hey, she was dead. Might as well coin the term as much as she could while she still had the ability to do so. She wasn't sorry, not at all.)

She was definitely having the ride of a lifetime. This was amazing! The energy burst she had felt rushing through her blood had fizzled into energy as soon as she released the final attack that ended her part of the so-called combo move. Shiki danced away, letting Neku strike at the last Noise, the largest target of the bunch.

She and Neku moved in tandem, in perfect parallel to each other as they each released a series of personalized attacks that whittled away more and more of the large golden bat-noise she somehow knew her partner had been struggling against in the darkness. Well, no more! She was here now, and she'd have his back, as long as he'd have hers.

Finally, she and Neku exhausted their pins to the furthest point, and all they could do was dash away. There was only one thing left to do. Leap out of the way so that Mr Mew could finally erase the last of the Noise with sharp claws that extended out of his velvet hands.

The Noise disappeared into a flare of static.

_The battle was over._

Suddenly, the concert stage lights flickered. A dim light overhead shined on them, illuminating a little of the room.

She pumped her fist in the air enthusiastically. "_Yeah!_ That was great," she cheered, slapping Neku's hand mid-air when he raised it up. She saw a twitch of his lips, and beamed. She made Neku smile! Partially, anyway, but it was a start!

Her partner scoffed, looking away. "You think?" he responded, but Shiki could spot the grin he was trying not to sport. So his tone was playful! Thank god she got it right.

"So that's how the pin works..." Neku muttered to himself, running a finger over the blank pin. Shiki made a thoughtful noise.

"Its a lot like dancing, doncha think?" She asked him, stretching her hands behind her back. Neku didn't respond, but he did look at her with a look that she didn't understand. Why was he staring so intently?

A beep from her phone alerted her to the day's mission, and she fumbled trying to grab it from her (Eri's) fanny pack. When she looked up, Neku lost the weird look on his face and had his phone out too, jerking his head towards the exit.

Pain flashed on their arms, and they winced. Shiki held up her hand to see the timer.

**[5:59:56]**

Time to get to work.

* * *

Or not.

Apparently the monster they just defeated had been the master of A-East, which. Okay, cool? BUT SHE AND NEKU WERE JUST TRYING OUT A PIN. How in the hell did they end up beating the freaking boss _already_?!

Neku, the (sorry, mamma) bastard, was grinning smugly, tossing his second player pin up and down.

She and her partner were outside A-East when she caught Neku staring as his hand in amusement. Curious, she looked down at her hand as well.

She promptly freaked out because the timer was gone.

Seriously, what the fuck?

* * *

**BONUS**:

"Sir..the mission's done."

Yodai blinked. "...come again?"

Kariya coughed behind his hand. "Just as you heard. As soon as we sent the mission two players were apparently at the scene of the crime and decimated the boss."

Yodai frowned. "That is...most troublesome. Who cooked up such a foiled plan?"

Konishi pushed up her glasses. "You did."

Yodai shook his head. "No, that is not what I meant. Who defeated the Vespertilio Canor? It is supposed to have a delectable set meal of exquisite attack patterns."

"Two players, Neku Sakuraba and Shiki Misaki."

Yodai hummed. "I see...It seems we need to make a small adjustment. Worry not, fellow friends. I shall bring you an even better dish. Ms Konishi, do you remember that small bat that accompanied the Vespertilio Canor?"

"Yes. What of it?"

"Make that the master of A-East."

"Alright."

Kariya clicked his tongue. "Seems like a cop-out, no?"

Yodai glared at the reaper. "I don't see you whipping up another plan, Koki."

Kariya raised his arms in surrender. "Hey, just saying."

WITH NEKU AND SHIKI:

Neku stifled a chuckle as his and Shiki's phones beeped again.

'Defeat the TRUE master of A-East and brighten the show once more. You have 240 minutes. Fail, and face erasure.'

The sound of groans everywhere from both Reapers and Players alike was music to his ears.

He was definitely losing it. Neku Sakuraba never willingly found amusement in such trivial matters...or was that just his inmer Joshua speaking?

Finding these stupid reports were definitely making him a bit more cuckoo  
lately.

Mr H, why the hell are your reports so damn hard to get?


End file.
